This work is, in the words of Madame Blavatsky, “ meant for the few only/ In the phraseology of this work, it is in- tended neither for those Ajnanis (or the worldly-minded), who welter in the sea of Samsara without being indifferent to the worldly things nor for those higher spiritual person ages who have reached a state of adeptship, so as to be above all advice.
Hence it is written in the interests of those wbo have become indifferent to worldly things and crave for spirituality becoming a potent factor in their daily lives. Fancy a work like “The Voice of Silence” put into the hands of a worldly person of decidedly materialistic view and he will throw it away in sheer disgust. Similarly will this work appear to a person who has not caught a glimpse even of the higher life and principles. A person of true Vairaggya, should he wish to have not only some hints thrown on the nature of cosmos, Manas (mind) and Universal Spirit from the idealistic stand-point but also some rules of guidance in his daily practical life towards occult knowledge with the proper illustrations will herein find, in my opinion, a mine of know ledge to be guided by and to cogitate upon.
There are some peculiar traits in the feature of this work as contradistinguished from other spiritual works in the Sanskrit literature. As all know, the Vedas and the Upa- nishads are so mystic in their nature in many places that their real meaning is not grasped clearly and all persons except true occultists rare to find in this world interpret them in different ways, one holding that the Vedas inculcate nature worship, another putting upon them a diametrically opposed view and so on. Even in the Ten Upanishads, all the metaphysical leaving aside for the present, as impossible, the occult theories have not been worked out in a systematical manner except in the way of some clues vouchsafed thereupon. Taking the Puranas in their dead letter light, our Pandits generally have found them replete with indecent and absurd stories and thrown them into a corner; and hence the nick name of Puranas has been applied, in ordinary usage amongst us, to any thing that is a farrago of fictions and absurdities. But for the timely resurrection of them by H. P. Blavatsky with the profound ray of light shed upon them by her, almost all of us should have unanimously buried, by this time, into oblivion all those savoring of Puranas. Even she has not thrown full light on them, as she probably was not privileged so to do. As regards the Itihasas, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are considered as so many stories only and as such are much in favor of our orthodox Pandits who do not care to go above worldly things. Vedanta soars high in the region of the Absolute with its theories and words; and our metaphysicians of the old school in India, carrying the notion of the physical world up there, try to solve the problem of the homogeneity orotherwise of the Infinite and are wrangling with one another as our Adwaitins, Visishtadwaitins and Dwaitinsare doing in their every day lives, so much so that their arguments end in mental gymnastics only and with nothing practical in their lives. Here a curious instance occurs to me. One day an Adwaita Pandit lectured in a certain place about Brahman being Nirguna (or without any attributes), and the only Reality and argued with great vehemence against his adversary. Next day seeing him, while I was passing by, circumambulate an idol in a temple. I asked him as to whom he was paying respects. The Pandit merely laughed over the affair without an answer. Thus are most of our Pandits, theorizing only with nothing practical about them and soaring into the region of the Absolute without a proper knowledge of the basic foundations of Vedanta.
But Yoga-Vasishta has chalked out for itself a new and distinct path. At first, it enunciates a doctrine in its several bearings and then elucidates it with beautiful stories. There in it gives also rules of guidance for the conduct of life in the daily world, these also finding their illustrations in the stories given out. As in the Puranas, we have not to rack our brains over with the slight hints thrown therein and to sometimes give up in despair the problems before us.
Secondly This book serves as a ladder wherewith to scale from the Sireswara Sankhya doctrine of Patanjali as given out in his Yoga-Sutras to the Maya-conception of the Adwaita Pantheists and thus renders possible a reconciliation between them both. Through a study of Patanjali s Yoga- Sutras, it is clear from Book III, Aphorism 17 that the cause of all pains is the conjunction of the seer with the visual or the subject with the object ; the conception of “ I” having been brought about by the identification of the subject with the object. Through Sasbatkara Anubhava or direct realization, the Yogi finds he is one with the subject and does not find then the reality of the object. It is this that is illustrated in the story of Sukha.
Thirdly Seme of the theories and facts, occult, meta physical or otherwise, given out by H. P. B. find their corroborations in this work. 1 have got a deep-seated con viction in me which tells me that if Theosophical ideas are ever to gain a firm footing in India, it can only be by showing that it is H. P. B. s explanations alone that can throw proper light upon and galvanize with life our old Aryan works. For this purpose, I think all the authorities, express or implied, which are found in a stray form in the Hindu works, should be ransacked, culled out and given to the world. As H. P. B. herself said, her business was to string the flowers found in India as well as in other places and make a nosegay out of the same.
Now 1 shall give out some illustrations therefor. They are (1) That Parabrahm, the Absolute is not the cause of the creation of Brahma or the universe as creation implies some conditioned thought and space and as the Infinite is unconditioned and can therefore have no kind of causal rela tionship to that which is finite or conditioned, viz., the universe which manifests itself or is absorbed according to the Law of the Absolute (vide the story of Sikhidwaja).
(2) Devas and Asuras are merely the opposite intelli- gential forces or poles in nature such as positive and nega tive. With the cessation of the one aspect, the other also ceases to exist- This statement is to be found in the story of Prahlada.
(3) In “ The Secret Doctrine,” it is stated that the Asuras, Rudras, &c., represent in one sense the egos of man ; they being the active powers as opposed to Devas, the passive ones. This fact is exemplified in Sukra s story as well as in the story of the 100 Rudras.
(4) The eking out of the double and the means through which such things are done, vis., through the mastery of Kundalini Sakti are given out in the story of Sikhidwaja.
(5) Being itself a work intended for occult students, this book gives out the seven states of Jnana and Ajnana (vide Utpaththi and Nirvana Prakaranas) ; the seven Ajnana states are not given out in the works I have come across though the former are.
